Page 28 of Vegas Heat

“I’d like to, too. But you’ll be in San Diego, and I’ll be here…it’ll get complicated, don’t you think?”

“Most definitely. But it’ll be easier once I move here,” I say carefully.

She sucks in a breath. “You’re taking the job?”

“I was seventy-five percent sure I was going to take it anyway, and then I met you. You put up a pretty convincing argument to cover that last quarter, and then I talked to my friends tonight at dinner…it just feels like this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Her fingers tighten in mine. “This?”

“Right here. Beside you. We’ll have challenges, but I want to figure out how to make this work in the real world. You’re in college, and I’m…not. You’re young and have so much life to experience.” Meanwhile, I’m almost thirty-three and I’m at a point in my life where I’m ready to start a family.

Could it be with her?

Crazier things have happened.

My parents were only together a few weeks when they got engaged.

“But if you want to see where it goes, well…so do I,” I finish.

“I want that more than anything,” she breathes.

“My parents only knew each other three weeks before they knew they were going to spend their lives together,” I admit.

“Tell me about your parents,” she says.

“I grew up in Chicago. My mom is a first-grade teacher, and she’s my best friend. My dad was an electrician.”

“Was?” she asks softly.

“He passed away when I was nine.”

“Oh, God, Cooper. I’m so sorry,” she murmurs.

I squeeze her hand. “Thanks. He lost his father when he was a teenager. It made me feel like the men in my family don’t get much time with their kids, and that’s part of why I always wanted to have kids at a young age.”

“Do you have kids?” she asks.

“No. I have two nephews, my brother’s kids. He’s four years older than me and his kids are nine and eleven. It just…hasn’t worked out for me yet, and now I’m beyond what I’d consideryoungto have kids. But I still want three or four,” I admit. “What about you? Do you want kids?”

“Yes and no. I don’t think about it much. I figure I have plenty of time, and it’s not a pressing priority at the moment. I’ve never been one of those people who felt like I was born to be a mother. I want to establish myself in a career first before I’m ready to go down that path.”

I think about that for a beat. It’s the first red flag of our short time together. I’m at a point in my life where I want to settle down, where I want to start a family. She’s not ready for those things, and that’s fine. She’s young, and she shouldn’t have to make those types of decisions yet.

But what the hell am I doing here?

Am I just prolonging the inevitable?

Or is this worth exploring?

I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know one thing.

I’m not quite ready to let go yet.

CHAPTER 13: GABBY

He’s quiet, and I wish I knew what he was thinking. It’s a reminder that we’re still virtual strangers.

I want to know everything about him. I don’t want to be strangers.

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